This week marks the second time I’ve been sick on this
exchange. Man this sucks.
The week was good though. Wednesday was a busy day for me. I
ate lunch in town with a couple friends, we ate kebob, which is something I’ve
discovered in France but love so much. I went to my French lesson after and
then my dance class. Thursday was school and then my horse riding lesson.
Friday I didn’t have badminton so I went to the gym and then to a family
friends house. I had a very busy week and it’s times like these that really
start feeling like I’m making a life in this country.
Thursday at the horse lesson I did fall off my horse. We
were cantering and she fell so by default I fell as well. I didn’t get hurt. It
struck me as a little funny to be taking the age old saying literally. When you
fall off the horse, you have to get back up. Also turns out that in the
equestrian world, if you fall you have to buy or make a cake for the rest of
the class. So, I guess I will be making my fellow classmates a cake.
This weekend was really nice. It was a Rotary weekend with
all the other exchange students. It was in a city called Saumur, which is a
city famous for it’s horses but also for its stone and cave dwellings. It turns
out that this particular area of France was really big for a specific type of
Quarry. The people the lived here were primarily farmers and needed to preserve
their farmland. Normally when a quarry is dug it results in a huge hole in the
ground. These farmers were smarter though and designed and carried out a
different method for collecting the stone beneath their land.
Basically what they did was dig about a meter wide trench in
the ground and then dug down from there. They dug down straight for about a
meter and then dug outwards in a shape that roughly matches that of a wine
bottle. What results is a quarry that doesn’t destroy the farmers land. The
farmers would also often build their houses directly into these rocks. This
area is very fascinating and it was cool to see this big part of history.
While in Saumur we also went to see an abbey in a nearby
city. It was very interesting and we got an entire tour. It was interesting to
see the huge difference in culture and values of that era and today. For
instance, in the dining hall there were three rows of tables and no windows.
The nuns and residents were not allowed to say anything, as they had to be
completely focused on god. The people sitting at the outer two tables sat
facing the wall so they wouldn’t be tempted to talk to each other and the
people sitting in the middle table had to sit sideways so they wouldn’t look at
one another.
It was an interesting weekend as well because the new
Australians just got here. Australia and most of the southern hemisphere is on
a different school schedule and it works best for them to come during this part
of the year. It was interesting to see their reactions to coming to France and
discovering all the things I had discovered five months ago. It was strange
because they don’t speak French so they didn’t understand anything the
Rotarians said to them. I got to act as the translator for them when the
Rotarians were going over the rules. It started to snow as well, which was the
first time I’d seen the stuff since I got here.
Being around the Australians really made me realize how far
I’ve come and how much I’ve grown. I’m proud of myself and the progress I’ve
made.
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